1. Adam and Eve in the Land of the Dinosaurs

Comment #44504 by nonsequitar on May 25, 2007 at 2:51 am

Pretty bizarre alright, but the US is currently undergoing its Roman-style demise... All empires eventually implode. Pity, so much potential, so much ignorance!

2. God Exists. A Formula Proves it.

Comment #37823 by nonsequitar on May 5, 2007 at 10:20 pm

Umm, he has a book just out! 'Nuff said.

3. Pope abolishes limbo

Comment #34010 by nonsequitar on April 23, 2007 at 3:17 am

Best Monday morning read I've had in quite some time. I do love the Catholic Church's laughter lounge, ahem, panel!

4. US Congressman Holds No God-Belief

Comment #25374 by nonsequitar on March 12, 2007 at 6:13 pm

A brave man in a lost world (america!) Kudos!

5. The Blasphemy Challenge

Comment #13194 by nonsequitar on December 16, 2006 at 5:02 am

Our youth always shout - it's part of establishing their position in society - in making a difference. Whether it's serious or humourous, it should be encouraged as a right of passage.

Atheism isn't, in my opinion, a faith to be preached from the pulpit - rather it's a rational decision based on intelligent and thoughtful processing of the facts presented to us. That it's generating a popular following these days is a social symptom as much as the incredible science we've been exposed to. I certainly hope that it doesn't result in a "No-religion Religion" with all the trappings of group-think that go with that, i.e., brute squads that "look after" those for whom the holy spirit is very real indeed.

That said, funny clip :-)

6. Intelligent Design packets

Comment #13190 by nonsequitar on December 16, 2006 at 4:53 am

I personally have no problem with anyone expressing their point of view and showing this DVD in schools as long as it's presented alongside evolution in a non-biased way. Ergo, I do worry about the capability of our teachers to create a (relevant and age-applicable) environment of intelligent discourse in this context. Though religious organisations have done a tremendous service for our education (in general!) I do worry that their historic baggage is still foisted on our naive youth. In Ireland it's pretty hard to find school that isn't aligned to one religion or another, and so we'll take the responsibility as parents to educate our kids in religion (not in the making them be religious sense, just "about" religion) and science in the most balanced way we can.

My point is this - everyone has a position, those of us that want to be considered illuminated will value this, and will equip ourselves and our children with the tools to help them decide what's right for them.

7. Julia Sweeney on The Late Show with Craig Ferguson

Comment #12635 by nonsequitar on December 13, 2006 at 2:39 am

This is probably more useful for you folks!

Richard at TED...
http://tedblog.typepad.com/tedblog/2006/09/richard_dawkins.html

Dan Dennet at TED...
http://tedblog.typepad.com/tedblog/2006/07/dan_dennett_on_.html

Julia Sweeney at TED
http://tedblog.typepad.com/tedblog/2006/07/julia_sweeney_o.html

8. Julia Sweeney on The Late Show with Craig Ferguson

Comment #12633 by nonsequitar on December 13, 2006 at 2:37 am

I've seen her vodcast presentation on TED.com which was really quite interesting (Dan Dennet and Richard Dawkins are there too by the way -worth a download!!).
In this interview, I liked the description of being "culturally catholic" (because I guess that's what I am) and atheism being a state of not living according to a religious doctrine. Clear message delivered in a friendly (Mom-like) way. Nice!

9. The Panel with Richard Dawkins

Comment #12461 by nonsequitar on December 12, 2006 at 3:53 am

Made me smile!
I think the make-up from this show's audience is in the 18-30 year old grouping and perhaps more receptive to rational viewpoints, even if presented in a humourous fashion. Whereas the Late Late show, in general, is a a case of trying to teach old dogs new tricks!

10. Richard Dawkins on The Late Late Show with Pat Kenny

Comment #12333 by nonsequitar on December 11, 2006 at 2:59 pm

Hotandspicymeltown - apt name for the empire of the past ;-)

11. Richard Dawkins on The Late Late Show with Pat Kenny

Comment #12328 by nonsequitar on December 11, 2006 at 2:50 pm

Funny on the self-loathing, but true! Perhaps the Irish (of which I'm one) have always been self-loathing - it's in the make up I suppose :-) It's certainly a part of what drives me to try harder in my own day to day. My disappointment and embarrassment is based on the fact that I am surrounded by so many bright friends and family that to hear a "yokle" spouting on about miracles that cured her whatever-affliction-she-had makes me sad because it's not representative of the intelligent counter viewpoints that could have been put forward (small show, partisan audience etc)

On the other commentary on Mr. Dawkins "underperforming" my feeling is this. He seems to have put him in the position of having "spread the word" on atheism - this may be flawed stance (or my perception of his argument). My own feeling is that (a) he's written these books that have caused a storm with theists, and he is being asked to justify this stance on small/medium/large shows against a tsunami of closed-mindedness and (b) that he should never become an athiest-fundamentalist, because that would be self-contradictory to his goals (in fact, in the extreme). I don't believe he'll ever succumb to this as he seems to have consistency and integrity. My goal for all of this is open mindedness - listen, process, decide. If you need a God in your life, go for it. If science floats your boat (thanks Archimedes!) then go for that!

12. Richard Dawkins on The Late Late Show with Pat Kenny

Comment #12186 by nonsequitar on December 11, 2006 at 5:18 am

As a (newly embarrassed) Irish person, this interview irritated me greatly. While Pat Kenny conducted the interview as he usually does (mediocre, but not appalling), the audience and panel (not Mr. Dawkins) struck me as a bunch a "thicko's" and symptomatic of the catholic church's poisoning of the Irish over the decades. There were certainly no saints and scholars in evidence to me - this depresseses me greatly. Mr. Dawkins, it's always a pleasure to hear your rational arguments, patience with ignorance and your willingness to engage with the 80% of most populations that can't see beyond their own intolerance for openness - kudos!

I do like Dawkin's writings a lot, and though I can even disagree with some of his points and beliefs (hey, I have my own after all! ), I'm overwhelmingly in agreement with him on the futility and insanity of worshiping supernatural beings and in the absolute insanity of the Church being an entity that cannot be questioned without reprimand.

I often wonder about the relationship to "being good" as it relates to the vatican's behaviour in covering up systematic abuse of its flock and, even more cynically, at this time of the year when I see no churches opening their doors to the poor and destitute. Why partake in a religion like that? Perhaps a few scrapings from the picture frames embossed with gold from the vatican's art collection itself would feed numerous of our poor this "religious" season. Hey, selling some of the massive "religious" properties in Ireland would do very well in generating a fund for the giving of alms. Will this happen? I think not!

Lastly, we're not part of the UK in anything but a shared membership of the EU, if not the EMF ;-)